“Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is a song by English pop-rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 18 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury, and Vertigo Records as the third single from the band’s second album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985). “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” is a new wave and synth-pop song with lyrics that detail the desire humans have for control and power and centre on themes of corruption.

Music critics praised “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” in their retrospective reviews, with some including the song in their respective decade lists. It is regarded as the group’s signature song, along with “Shout” (1984). It garnered success on charts internationally, peaking at number two in Ireland, Australia, and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand, and on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold by both Music Canada (MC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

In an interview with Mix magazine, Hughes said that “as a piece of recording history, [the song is] bland as hell.” Orzabal’s unimpressed reaction to the track during their songwriting sessions prompted Hughes to convince him to record it, in a calculated effort to garner American chart success. After completing their sessions at 6 p.m., they would spend an hour reviewing each recording many times; this helped Orzabal to create the song’s guitar figure and change its title. Orzabal acknowledged that the shuffle beat used in the song was “alien” to their way of writing music, stating it was “jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of ‘Shout’, but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert.” Curt Smith, the song’s lead singer, said the themes were “quite serious – it’s about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes.”

The band had trouble getting into the original incarnation of the song, which featured the lyric “everybody wants to go to war.” When it was changed to the title phrase, everything clicked. “Once we got those lyrics, it was a joyful song,” Orzabal explained.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World” is a line from the 1980 Clash song “Charlie Don’t Surf.” Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story to Musician magazine about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that “you owe me a fiver.” Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five-pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title.

LYRICS

Welcome to your life
There’s no turning back
Even while we sleep
We will find you

Acting on your best behaviour
Turn your back on mother nature
Everybody wants to rule the world

It’s my own design
It’s my own remorse
Help me to decide
Help me make the most

Of freedom and of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

There’s a room where the light won’t find you
Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down
When they do I’ll be right behind you

So glad we’ve almost made it
So sad they had to fade it
Everybody wants to rule the world

I can’t stand this indecision
Married with a lack of vision
Everybody wants to rule the world
Say that you’ll never never never never need it
One headline why believe it?
Everybody wants to rule the world

All for freedom and for pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

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